12/01/2008

Whether you are an entrepreneur in business for yourself or
an aspiring leader in a pubic corporation you must learn the skill of
delegation. In both instances it’s about getting others to do part of your work
efficiently and for a greater good.Small
business will not grow without others to take over part of your duties.In a large organization, you will not get
promoted very far unless you show the ability to be a lean manager that
effectively leverages and develops human resources.

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If you micromanage expect stress for yourself and
inefficiency and substandard results for the group you lead. You may spend
considerable time putting out fires, working long hours and searching for focus
while feeling saturated. Individual members might show lack of skills,
experience, motivation, trust and laggard performance.

People don’t delegate for many reasons including, a of lack of organizational skills, old
habits, reluctance to take risks, need to control, perfectionism,lack of trust and all sorts of fears such
as:being seen as lazy, competition,
asking others for help; plus- as with all processes- it often takes
considerable up-front effort toproperly
delegate and execute the tasks involved.

Statistics show that the majority
of employees are disconnected from their employer.In other words, they could care less whether
the company meets its goals.The good
news is that when businesses support their employees’ professional development
and personal wellbeing, their morale and commitment improves dramatically.

When you delegate appropriately,
you are providing employees the opportunity to develop their job skills.Yet, to skillfully pass tasks down the line,
you need to supply the necessary authority, specify the desired outcome and
comprehensively train the person who will be doing the job.You will let go of your control but will keep
an eye on performance.

Define and assess qualifications. Determine what
will you delegate- who, what, where, how. Administrative tasks are obvious choices.
Unless its necessary, avoid delegatingprocesses or methodologies.Instead focus on results. Evaluate whether the person has the skills and
tools necessary to complete the job.

Communicate Expectations. Discuss with those you
are delegating to, all the tasks that need to be completed and by when.
Make sure they are thoroughly understood including performance standards and
level of results required; never assume.

Get the employee’s commitment.When possible get your employee’s opinion into
consideration and obtain an agreement; negotiate if necessary. Employees will
be more committed to do the job when they feel that their opinion has been
taken into consideration.This may
involve a simple question like- ‘do you feel comfortable with this assignment’?
Or, ‘can you commit to that date’?

Delegate in increments.Explore the possibility of delegating in
increasing levels of authority; from basic to full delegation:

o1) Fact-find-Authority is limited to analyze & report all the facts alternatives so
that you can decide the appropriate response.

o(2) Recommend- The person has the authority to gather facts, and recommends a responsefor your approval.

o(3) Design- Here the person goes a step further
and designs the action plan in response to be carried out with your prior
approval.

Follow- Up. Monitor progress through follow up
reports and meetings. More frequently at the beginning, less at the end but at
a minimum make sure the person fully understand that they must report back when
encountering problems or unforeseen circumstances.

By becoming a competent
‘delegator’ you will make the best use of your time and skills allowing you to
focus on strategy, coordination and other high-value work. It is also an
opportunity to motivate employees since you are offering them to grow and
develop to their full potential by trying and testing their skills and resolve.
The end result will be increase performance from a group that will show respect
for your leadership skills.

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11/17/2008

Getting
the great results we want- whether it be in life or in business- is the sort of
elusive topic that fills libraries and seminar rooms. How many New Year’s
resolutions have you accomplished so far?
How many busted dreams do you keep hidden in dark confines of your mind?
How’s all that working for you? This inability to produce results get further
complicated when we start dreaming big. Let’s suppose you want to increase
sales in your business by say 100% in three months. Just setting goals will not be enough. It
will take massive changes in both your thinking and the way you do things. Not
everyone is ready for that kind of action. Are you?

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The typical
pattern begins with a great plan about something you want to achieve in the
future; very exciting and large as a mountain.As you begin comprehending the amount of effort it take to get the goals
you want a zillion considerations will begin to surface. Instead of owning that
mountain by carrying away the small stones first, you rationalize ways to
postpone action. You rather wait for the ‘best’ moment, an easier path, or a
lucky break (and many other excuses) to avoid facing up to the fact that you
are not willing to do what it takes. In the end nothing gets done and the grand
future fades away; again.

In order to ‘have’
anything in life we have to ‘do’ something to achieve it. If you want wealth
you must invest. If you yearn for love you must first give it away. Before
demanding respect you must earn it. Whatever you want, you need to ‘do’ in
order to ‘have. There is no other way around it.

But ‘doing’
is just one part. You must also ‘be’ that person. You must ‘be-come’ the person
who would have the things or qualities that you desire.You must embrace and grow into the beliefs, values
and attitudes that embody that type of a
person. We’ve all heard of the Lotto winner who, within a few years, lost his
millions. He didn’t be-come the “millionaire”.

Think about
President-elect Obama and his huge goal of becoming President. In order to HAVE
something like the Presidency of the United States, you have to develop the
beliefs, values and attitudes of a world leader. Likewise you must get rid of
those limiting values and beliefs that hold you back from becoming such a
person.

In Business is the same.If you want high end customers your company must
look and feel high-end. The staff must have the character and personality that
will attract those customers. What is your attitude towards people who like
luxury items or services? Is that attitude helpful and supportive? Think of
what type of person you need to be in order to attract the kind of clients you
want.Do you need to be organized, fun,
friendly, daring, risk taker? If you want amazing customers you must build up
your business into one that will attract amazing customers.

The curious thing is that the 'being' part is not about elaborating strategy or planning some future course of action. Ways of being refer to how are we showing up in life in any given moment. Its a moment to moment decision and although we might not think its that important, there is nothing more important because the present moment is the only thing that exists. Everything else is a fixture of our imagination. By being the type of person you want to be in the future you are getting a sort of a test drive of what you are looking to achieve.

The next time you plan, think about
the Be-Do-Have formula. Who I need to be in order to do in order to have? First
get absolute clarity of what you want.Then, make a list of things you will need to get done in order to
achieve those goals.Follow up by making
a list of those values, beliefs, strengths and attitudes you need to cultivate
in order to get things done.

Settling now into the ways of being of
the person who you seek to be in the future, makes it much easier to take
action aligned and consistent with your goals. Walk a mile with the shoes of that other
man/woman you want to be.They may be so
comfortable you may end up keeping them.

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09/21/2007

(By Bob Roberts. Bob is a certified business coach with Action COACH, he is based in Hartville, Ohio)

Communicating with Your Team Have you ever heard people say
things like, “Management never lets us know what’s going on,” “Our
questions and concerns don’t get through to them” or “They just don’t
care. They’re too busy looking out for themselves”? Unfortunately, this
lack of communication is typical of the situation in too many
organizations and can be solved by remembering this simple but powerful
phrase:

"Communication is the response you get."

In other words, it's not what you say but how people respond to what you say that is important. It could be that youare the problem - not those on the receiving end...!

1. Develop trust – It’s not automatically given; it must be earned.
2. Openly communicate more than you have to or need to. Make it your top priority.
3. Be as specific as possible in the words or phrases you use.
4. Supply whatever background information and reasons people need to understand changes.
5. Be absolutely honest with all employees.
6. Actively share information and feelings. (Yes, people have feelings in the workplace too.)
7. Talk to employees as one adult to another (the way you would like a leader to talk to you.)
8. Always solicit ideas, suggestions and reactions from your team.
9. Follow through, always – no exceptions.
10. Recognize that the job of the leader is to remove roadblocks, irritants and frustrations, not to put them there.
Remember team members are important and want to be treated that way.
They want to feel that they belong and that their work makes a
difference. If they aren’t made to feel this way, they’ll work just
hard enough to get by. Don’t let that happen to your company!